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Adventist school in Nicaragua becomes first school in nation to bring digital technology into classrooms

Students at the Adventist Vocational School in Nicaragua began using digital boards and tablets last month.

Mar 08, 2016|Managua, Nicaragua|Inter-American Division Staff

High school seniors take part on the new digital boards in class at the Colegio Vocacional Adventista de Nicaragua, or Adventist Vocational School in Managua, Nicaragua, last month. The school becomes the first across the Central American country to integrate digital technology in the classroom. [Photo provided by COVANIC]

A Seventh-day Adventist school in Nicaragua was featured on national television as the first secondary school in the nation to integrate digital technology in the classroom. Students at Colegio Vocacional Adventista de Nicaragua, or Adventist Vocational School in Nicaragua, (COVANIC) began using digital boards, and tablets as the school year began earlier last month.

Channel 2 News Media, one of the largest television stations in the country, featured the story in a 5-minute report.

Principal of COVANIC Juan A. Guevara, said that the project was implemented to improve the learning level of its fifth year secondary students. “Providing today’s available tools will increase the interaction between teachers and students inside and outside of the classroom,” said Guevera.

“We are entering a very special phase and we believe that these are powerful tools so that teaching can captivate our young students, and they can discover the world,” said Guevara. “We know that this new academic field will bring growth because students are not here to pass a grade but to learn.“

So far students have began using the interactive digital boards in math, history, geography and the rest of the subjects, said Guevara. The digital boards available in certain classrooms have an audio system, which allows students to interact and further learn their subjects.

The school plans to incorporate more of the technology to fifth year students or high school seniors to the rest of grades in the coming year.

This news has motivated other educational institutions throughout the Adventist schools in Nicaragua to begin planning and investing in technology for their curriculum teaching, said Marvin Gomez, associate education director in Nicaragua.

Students and teachers alike are happy with the new technological initiative in their school.

“We can open their study platform from any browser, download the application, check and turn in our assignments online,” high schooler Gabriel Irigoyen said.

The interaction is key to in-depth learning, commented Maria Cardoza, a teacher at COVANIC. “The student learns more when he or she is interactive with digital tools, instead of us just lecturing, so we are improving their learning process,” Cardoza said.

“It’s such a relief that we don’t have to carry all of our books in our backpack and we can avoid back pain,” said Dayana Downs to Channel 2 TV News. “It’s so great to have the tablet because everything that you need is in one place.”

COVANIC has more than 250 students in its primary and secondary schools.

The Adventist church in Nicaragua oversees 17 primary and 8 secondary schools, and has nearly 137,000 church members worshipping in 504 churches and congregations.